3D Monster Maze
Reviews C+VG Issue 6 Wandering around the fairground sideshows, I heard a busker enticing the crowd to roll-up and see the prehistoric monster. I paid up and entered the tent, only to be enveloped in a grey mist which transported me back into the era of that mightiest of beasts. Tyrannosaurus Rex. Exploring tentatively, I stopped at an intersection and looked around me. Then came the sound of approaching footsteps. I ran, turning this way and that but there, looming above me. was the dreaded monster. The huge jaws opened to reveal his great teeth. I could just make out something inside, I started to read: "You have been posthumously awarded 130 points and sentenced to roam the maze forever. If you wish to appeal, press stop' else press 'cont'" I pressed cont... I might get out this time. 3D Monster Maze, is the best game I have seen for the Sinclair ZX81. The grey and black walls of the maze provide the 3D effect and the graphics make Tyrannosaurus Rex look suitably frightening as it paces toward you. The maze corridors are constantly changing as you press the 5, 7 or 8 keys to walk forward or turn the corners. There is a way out of the maze but I have only managed to find it twice. It you do manage to exit then your score is increased accordingly. It would be nice to have a high score facility included in the program, though. The play can be speeded up or slowed down if you alter the listing slightly. Instructions on how to do this are included in the notes supplied with the cassette. I have found myself wandering around the maze with the monster lying in wait, somewhere and not wanting to come out. It does give you a chance to find the exit, but it does take away some of the fun. This did not happen very often though. This program then can be highly recommended and is available for a 16K ZX81 from J. K. Greye Software on its games tape 4 and costs £5.95. ZX Computing Issue 1 Writer: Phil Garratt If I had to choose just one program to impress an audience with the capabilities of the ZX81, then J K Greye's "3-D Monster Maze" would be the one without a doubt. Written mainly in machine code, this 9½K game includes graphics which had me checking that the program was really being run on a ZX81, rather than one of the micros that measure their price, as well as their memory, in Ks. The impressive features of this program start even before the game itself begins. A cleverly-drawn clown announces the instructions which scroll up the right-hand side of the screen. The clown even doffs his hat (although I must admit that at first I thought his head had fallen off, even these graphics have some limitations). Any program which can liven up the presentation of the instructions has to have a lot going for it. The ZX81 goes into FAST mode to set up the maze, and when it is complete, you are given an excellent 3-D representation. All walls are shaded and passages to the left and right can be seen clearly quite a way ahead. Keys 5, 7 and 8 are used to turn left, go forward and turn right, and the response is instantaneous. There is a real sense of motion through the maze if you keep your finger on 'forward'. Having played a couple of very slow 3-D mazes written in BASIC, this program would have been streets ahead . . . if it wasn't for Rex. Rex is the unfriendly neighbourhood dinosaur who inhabits the maze. You only score points when he is chasing you... or when you find the exit... so this is no game for the faint-hearted. You are told if he is getting close, although if you're lucky (?) you'll see him lumbering towards you, getting bigger and bigger, the jaws opening wider and wider. Even after playing the game many times, the sight of him still makes me jump. Truly the stuff of nightmares. The graphics are incredible and I found I had to copy the screen to a printer to prove to myself that these amazing pictures were made up from the standard Sinclair character set. So the graphics are great, but how good is it as a game? I'm pleased to be able to say that it is very good indeed. There is on-screen scoring as you move around, plus bonus points if you find the exit, which involves yet more graphics effects. The exit is a moving kaleidoscope of letters and symbols which grows as you approach it. But beware of being hypnotised by it, as Rex is always close by to wake you up. If you find the exit, a new maze is created and your score is carried forward. If you do happen to end up in Tyranno's tummy, you get the opportunity to start again with the same maze, so you can build up your chances of escape. With such a professional standard of presentation maintained throughout the program, it deserves to do very well indeed. I certainly haven't seen anything like it before, but I hope it is just the start of 'realistic' graphics games for the ZX81. "3-D Monster Maze" is £5.95. Your Computer Issue 10 Writer: Eric Deeson Popular Computing Weekly Issue 4 Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Straightaway this gets into my personal top ten ZX programs. Monster Maze is not entirely a novel concept, but it's very close to it. You are in an unknown maze and aim to get out - not novel, but here the screen displays what you would see, in superb 3-D. A monster lurks in the maze to gobble you up - again not novel, but here, the monster is extraordinarily life-like and is quite frightening as it charges down the passage towards you. You can escape the monster by fleeing - yet again not novel. Lastly, the inclusion of instructions is also not novel, but here those instructions are superbly written and scroll up half the screen past another superbly graphic creation, a lifelike, semi-animated bellman. This is a fabulous program, written in Basic and machine code. I've only one criticism (and I'm not sure if it's a practical joke, or, conversely, whether there was an equipment fault). You're allowed to appeal after the monster gets you. When I won the appeal (which doesn't always happen), the program NEWed. Summary Undoubtedly one of the best ZX programs available. Category:ZX81 Games Category:J.K. Greye Software Category:C+VG Reviews Category:Your Computer Reviews Category:ZX Computing Reviews Category:Popular Computing Weekly Reviews Category:New Generation Software